Q1: Is it ethical and the best use of Australian money to provide funding for Hydropower Dams in major tributaries of the Mekong River in Laos, and work in tandem with the main Chinese Hydropower Dam Developer “Sinohydro” – while there’s mounting scientific evidence of:

The disastrous social, economic and environmental Impacts of Hydropower Dams on the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) and its people?

The crippling long-term debts incurred by Laos & Cambodia for loans by China and Thailand to pay for the Dams and infrastructure? And

The rampant violation of Human Rights by China, Laos and Cambodia associated with Dam construction?

Q2: Shouldn’t DFAT support Vietnam and the 20 million people that live on the Mekong Delta by calling for a STOP to Dam construction in the LMB? That is, should Australia reject the economic hardship caused by the potential collapse of the Mekong River Delta – through the loss of land and properties by salt intrusion and rising sea levels – leading to a massive Humanitarian Crisis with the displacement of 7-14 Million people? Thus, an “Environmental Refugee Exodus” of an unprecedented scale?

Q3: Shouldn’t an important Department such as DFAT adhere to the truth and facts when publishing Foreign Policy in its website?

“Australia’s Mekong Water Resources Program will continue to help develop and better manage the region’s water resources for greater economic opportunities as well as to protect the 60 million people that rely directly on the Mekong River for their livelihoods. Hydropower development is vital for the economic future of countries of the Mekong Basin, and its transparent management is critical to the stability of countries and regional links. Through targeted investments in quality planning, our program is helping countries of the region build hydropower dams sustainably.”

DFAT’s above statements are FALSE and MISLEADING, as explained below:

1. Australia is NOT “helping the better management of water resources in the Mekong basin”. Well on the contrary, DFAT is helping RUIN the Water Resources by promoting and funding Dams! See impacts below.

2. DFAT is not helping create “greater economic opportunities” for the benefit of the Mekong people. But rather, for the benefit of the Elite, the Chinese Developers, Companies and Banks. In fact, DFAT is helping HARM the economies of Cambodia and Vietnam long-term through:

Loss of fisheries and agricultural revenue, which will only get worse.

By helping put these countries into enormous crippling debt with China and Thailand to finance the Dams and infrastructure needed.

Through the sinking of the Mekong Delta by lack of upstream sediments blocked by the Dams, leading to Salt intrusion by rising sea levels. This in turn, ruins the land and makes it unusable, having already forced the exodus of thousands of farmers from the Delta to the cities in 2016.

Dams retaining water have resulted in parts drying up and damaging the Tonle Sap Lake wetlands: vital fisheries nurseries to the Mekong River. Hence, affecting the economy and the poorest people dependent on fisheries, by loss of food supply.

3. Claiming to “protect the 60 Million people that rely directly on the Mekong River for their livelihoods” is scandalous and dishonest. Instead, DFAT is doing exactly the opposite: you are jeopardizing the vital Food Security, Water supply and productive riparian areas on which 60 Million people depend!

4. Hydropower is NOT VITAL for the future of LMB countries! Other sources of energy can be used, including Solar, Wind, Bio-Fuel & even Micro-hydro.

5. Transparent management of Hydropower in the region? Really? For over a decade now DFAT’s Trade partner China, has been promoting repression in the region, resulting in lack of transparency and information blackout. Furthermore, Chinese Developers, Thai Developers and Malaysian Developers have not fulfilled their contractual duties to the displaced communities: the compensation packages are dismal, training has not eventuated, resettlement land offered is non-arable so people cannot even grow their food!

Moreover, Developers have not undertaken Free Prior Informed Consent nor Community consultation of any kind until AFTER starting the construction of the Dams. Also, by not allowing information or even visits to the Dam sites not even by journalists. Where is the transparency in the above? Exactly how is DFAT helping achieve transparency?

6. Planning hasn’t worked out in Laos as per your own report (above), because the Laotians don’t care and don’t follow up.

7. There is no such thing as “building Hydropower Dams sustainably“… This statement is OUTRAGEOUS!Dams preclude Sustainability, as per its definition:

“Sustainability (from sustain and ability) is the property of biological systems to REMAIN DIVERSE and PRODUCTIVE INDEFINITELY. Long-lived and healthy rivers, wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems.”

Hydropower Dams in the Mekong River Basin are already fragmenting the river; reducing Biodiversity, Productivity and Fisheries; creating droughts; damaging Wetlands and Floodplains; and sinking the Delta, to mention a few!
How is this sustainable?

See more information and articles that support our statements below.

Overview of Hydropower Dams Impacts & Supporting articles:

1) Hydropower Dams Environmental impacts: BLOCK Fish Migrations, Sediments, Nutrients, Change the Hydrology, Change the Geo-morphology of the rivers, and reduce Water supply downstream and constantly change the water levels disrupting the stability of the ecosystems. Given that the key to productivity of the Mekong is FLOODING and the sediments and nutrients carried by the waters and spread out throughout the floodplains and tributaries, the reduced floods are having serious deleterious effects (and dozens of planned dams are not yet built). That is, decreased productivity, depleted fisheries and reduced biodiversity in the Mekong River and tributaries. Effectively, Hydropower is putting at RISK the Food Security & Water Supply of 60 Million people! Hence, Oz is helping create a Humanitarian Crisis like never before seen!

Please don’t tell us that the Dam engineering has been fixed to allow fish and sediment passage. Below we provide studies that show they do not work! Besides,not all sediments accumulate at the Dam wall. The majority of sediments are spread in the bottom of the huge reservoirs, so will not be going down the Dam improvements any time soon! See supporting studies below.

Please do NOT use the excuse of “Reducing Poverty & increasing Quality of Life”. There are several studies in Laos and Cambodia that PROVE that POVERTY HAS INCREASED with different Dams, with Women and children suffering the most! See supporting studies below.

3) Hydropower Dams are constant sources of Green House Gases – i.e. Methane, CO2, Nitrous Oxide. Hydropower is NOT Green & Clean Energy, as advertised by China and Australia to justify the construction of more Dams.

Far from it. In fact, one large Dam produces more GHG than a coal plant! These GHG trigger more Climate warming, resulting in rising sea levels. This in turn, infiltrate the Delta and ruin very productive land, displaces millions of people and ruins the economy of Vietnam… See supporting studies below.

4) Hydropower Dams are posing a serious threat to the viability of the Mekong Delta, the most productive area of the River, the Granary of SE Asia, home to 20 Million people.

Studies’ results indicate that hydropower development dominates the changes in floodplain sediment dynamics of the Mekong Delta, while sea level rise has the smallest effect. The Delta is already sinking, lost nearly 1 Million hectares to seawater intrusion in 2016. If it SINKS by 1meter, 7-14 MILLION people will be displaced & become “Environmental Refugees” – homeless, jobless, hungry. A man-made, partly Australian funded and promoted, Humanitarian crisis without precedent is taking place now and will get worse if any more Dams are built! See supporting studies below.

5) Hydropower Dams in Laos & Cambodia are being built on Human Rights Violations and Repression. Where communities displaced by Dams have NO voice, nor real consultation- despite false claims by the governments. They are forcefully evicted and resettled against their will. Resettlement villages offer non-arable barren land, are over 25Km from the River they know, and often, have no electricity. People can’t grow food, can’t fish and have no money to buy food… How are they to survive? China says they will have to change from a “subsistence living” and adopt a “Market life style”. Promised training has not been consistent nor does it include all displaced people, leaving most hungry. See supporting studies below.

6) Hydropower Development in the Mekong Basin is focused on “Trade Agreements”, which supersede the needs of the people and the environment. The Chinese Government has State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) such as the biggest Hydropower dam Developer in the World “Sinohydro”, and others. Chinese companies unashamedly and openly offer “donations” of great amounts of money to Political Parties, Rich influential individuals (the Elite), Companies and Government Officials to push their projects.

A well known case is Cambodian Tycoon, Kith Meng, Chairman of The Royal Group in partnership with a Chinese Corporate Group: together they are building with Chinese Developer “Hydrolancang”, the Lower Sesan 2 Dam in a major tributary of the Mekong. This partnership is awaiting authorization by the Cambodian Government to go ahead with the 3 most damaging Dams for the Mekong River:the Sekong Dam, Stung Treng Dam and Sambor Dam.

Another case is Australian Foreign Affairs & Trade Minister Julie Bishop​ (DFAT) who received $500,00 dollars in “Donations” from Chinese Businessmen over the past 2 years for ‘undisclosed’ deals. This:

Ratifies our suspicion about the Chinese Government influencing Australian business & politics.

Confirms our assertions that #Hydropower Development in the Mekong basin is about “Trade Agreements”. And

We can now add: “Chinese Businessmen offer BRIBES and Trade official receive them”!

——————————————

RECOMMENDATIONS

Australian DFAT must STOP any involvement in Hydropower Development in SE Asia to avoid being partly responsible for economic and irreversible environmental damages to the Lower Mekong River Basin, resulting in a massive Humanitarian Crisis.

DFAT wouldn’t be representing or abiding by the “compassionate principles that characterize the Australian people” if it persists in condoning and funding an environmental, economic and social disaster!

Australian Tax payers dollars would be better used on urgently needed sewage treatment systems in the Mekong Delta & Tonle Sap Lake areas, to improve water quality and reduce disease.

The MRC should stop finding excuses, and take decisive action to stop Laos and Cambodia from going ahead with any further Hydropower Dam development in the Mekong River mainstream and major tributaries.

Every member of the MRC and of the National Mekong Committees of the Four Lower Mekong countries (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam) KNOWS that Hydropower:

Hydropower Dams in the Mekong basin are actually INCREASING POVERTY and Despair, instead of “improving the standard of living and decreasing poverty” as falsely advertised. It is displacing tens of thousands of people from poor communities from their homes, lands and cultural sites, while offering a dismal compensation, which does not support the people to cultivate food or to fish, forcing them into a “market-life style” promoted by the Chinese, but without appropriate training nor money for food! (Despite the empty promises by the Developers to provide training).

Biodiversity is deeply interlinked with Food Security & Nutrition, and they all depend on a Sustainable Ecosystem. Thereby the need to protect ecosystems that support high biodiversity such as the Mekong River!

It is sheer lunacy to knowingly continue building Hydropower Dams, which are NOT sustainable developments, enhance Extinction rates, put at RISK the Biodiversity, the Food Security, Nutrition & Health of 60 Million poor people in SE Asia!

“Current foods systems are facing mounting challenges to provide growing populations with safe, diverse and nutritionally adequate foods because of resource constraints, environmental degradation as well as the continual narrowing of the food base and the loss of biodiversity. Biodiversity is intricately intertwined with food security and nutrition, for it is critical to the availability of nutrients needed to support health and well-being, as well as to the sustainability of the natural resource base upon which food systems rely. Nutrition is at the heart of the sustainable development agenda.”

The social, environment and economic impacts of upstream Hydropower development on downstream countries were clearly summarized by Kuenze, C et al.(2012):

“Examining hydropower development within the Mekong Basin reveals an obvious conflict interestbetween the needs of upstream and downstream countries,and especially between the priorities of Mekong upper class decision makers directly or indirectly proﬁting from the dams and the majority of the rural poor, whose livelihood they put at risk.

Main stem and tributary hydropower dams impact ﬂood-pulse timing variability, which can have grave effects on ecologic niches, ecosystems and biodiversity. They lead to a long-term decrease in downstream sediment load, which reduces the nutritious load to plains, wetlands and agricultural areas.

Sediment loss is expected to aggravate coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion in the Mekong delta—a region already threatened by sea level rise. Endangered natural environments are, however, not only the Mekong delta, but also the Tonle Sap and southern Cambodian ﬂoodplains. These regions host over one-third of the Mekong Basin population, which depends heavily onﬁsh catch as a source of daily protein.

Migrating ﬁsh will, however, be hindered on their pathway by hundreds of metres of high concrete walls. Fish ladders on such constructions have proven to be mostly inadequate in design, and also cannot prevent migratory ﬁsh from losing their sense of orientation when they end up in a slow ﬂowing large reservoir instead of a stream.

At the dam sites themselves, forced relocationof rural populations oftenleads to a decrease in resilience and impoverishment.

All the above underline the complexities of the water-food-energy nexus in the Mekong region. Many authors argue that the environmental and social costs of cascading the Mekong and its tributaries probably outweigh the beneﬁtsof energy generation, improved navigability, and associated economic development.”

Any new Dams will ensure the extinction of hundreds of aquatic species, a massive loss of biodiversity, the irreparable damage to the Tonle Sap Lake nurseries, will continue sinking the Mekong Delta, and increase the number of ‘Environmental refugees’ fleeing the Delta. Such exodus already started in early 2016, with thousands of Vietnamese being forced off their land by subsidence, salinization and drought. This resulted in the loss of productive land in the Delta and with it, the loss of crops and property.

“About 971,200 hectares of farming area in eight provinces of the Mekong Delta has been affected by salt water, Le Quoc Doanh, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said.”

The more Hydropower dams are built upstream, the more serious the impacts felt downstream! Every new Hydropower Dam is another nail in the coffin of the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.

According to Dr. Le Anh Tuan of Can Tho University (Personal Communication, Feb 2016), over HALF the population of the Mekong Delta, i.e. 10 MILLION people (!) could become “Environmental Refugees” as the result of the Mekong Delta sinking over 1-1.5 metres – courtesy of more Hydropower dams upstream retaining vital sediments that keep the Delta afloat; and, exacerbated by rising sea levels due to Climate Warming. In turn, Climate Warming is further increased by constant GHG emissions by Hydropower Dams!

“An environmental refugee is someone forced to leave their traditional habitat, temporarily or permanently, because of a marked environmental disruption” (as defined by Prof Essam El-Hinnawi.)

New Studyfindings indicate a WORSE scenario than that mentioned above:

It has been estimated that, if the sea level rises by ONE METER > 39 % of the Mekong River Delta’s lands will be under water!

“This could displace more than 7 MILLION residents and flood the homes of more than 14.2 MILLION people in the Mekong River Delta; in addition to submerging HALF of the region’s cultivated land (Warner et al., 2009).”

“Sea-level rise, combined with other slow-onset processes, is expected to increase saltwater intrusion and degrade freshwater resources, reducing the viability of cultivable land and destroying mangrove forests, especially in the south of the country (ADB, 2013a).”

On the other hand, it is important to recognize that:

Laos officials in charge of the Hydropower projects on the Mekong mainstream, are effectively the main decision makers and decide the future of the Lower Mekong River and its 60 Million people. They happen to be under the control and tutelage of China, and supported by Oxfam Australia (Oxfam Manager for Cambodia, Personal Communication, October 2015.)

Of great concern is Laotian officials high level of ignorance, and disregard for social and environmental welbeing. The Director-General of the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines, Daovong Phonekeo, told Radio Free Asiaduring a meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in Luang Prabang on Feb. 17, 2017:

“The Lao government has already decided to go ahead with the [Pak Beng] project because it is a good project,” he said.

“It will turn water into a USEFUL RESOURCE instead of letting the water flow down the River USELESSLY. We want to make this resource more valuable.” (!?!)

NOTE: A main Laotian bureaucrat that makes the decisions that affect the Lower Mekong River and WHO SEES NO VALUE IN A RIVER,which feeds 60 million people, supports a $7 billion dollar fisheries industry, provides water for drinking, irrigation, a multi-million dollar aquaculture industry, and supports a multi-billion agriculture industry, among a myriad of other services,is indeed a serious threat to the shared governance of the Mekong River.

As he clearly stated, Laos has already decided to forge ahead with its 3rd Dam in the Mainstream of the Mekong River, the Pak Beng Dam – regardless of the fact that there isn’t a completed EIA in place and not caring what the MRC says…

On the other hand, at the same event in Luang Pragang in Feb. 2017, the CEO of the MRC, Mr Pham Tuan Phan, did not acknowledge the Pak Beng Dam is going ahead. Instead hestated:

“According to the procedures, we have one month to review whether documents and data of the project are comprehensive or not, and 6 months later, we will consider the project on technical aspects. Thus far, we could not give out any comment yet. After 3 or 4 more months, we will conduct another regional consultation meeting on this project. At that time, we will able to give out some certain assessments.”

The meetings with the MRC are clearly a ‘mere formality’ to pretend all diplomatic avenues are being covered… It begs the question: Why bother and waste valuable sponsorship money if Laos will do as it pleases regardless? It’s an exercise on futility, and a Machiavelic charade…

CONCLUSIONS

The MRC and the governments of China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Australia –are promoting a Humanitarian Crisis in SE Asia as never before seen, in the name of “Economic Development & Growth”:

Loss of Food Security for60 Million people

Displacement of up to 14 Million people in the Mekong Delta alone

Displacement of tens of thousands of people for Dams’ reservoirs

Irreversible Loss of Biodiversity

IrreversibleEcological damage

Irreversible damage to the Fisheries &
Economies of Vietnam and Cambodia.

It is unacceptable that this be doneto favor Trade Agreements, which mostly benefit the Elite, Developers, Companies and Banks, but not the people.

This lack of social and environmental responsibility is immoral and highly unethical!

We urge the MRC to STOP the “diplomatic excuses” and take action as per your mission statement. There are enough studies that support a Ban on Hydropower Development in the Mekong basin for all the reasons stated above, and as the MRC itself advised in 2010.

Laos and Cambodia must not be allowed to build any more Dams in the Mekong River Mainstream or major tributaries, as proposed.

If the MRC really cared and wanted to align to its core mission of ensuring the balanced and equitable use of the Mekong River, it could apply the principles of International Law – regarding the Shared Governance of the Mekong River – by taking the case to the High Court in Geneva to resolve the issuesof: protection of the Food Security of 60 Million people, the biodiversity and the viability of the Mekong River Ecosystem.

For other details, we invite you to listen to our Podcast #1 , which offers the public an Overview of this “Mekong River Ecocide”, and spells the facts as they are. A forthcoming Second Podcast will address: the MRC lack of responsibility permitting the construction of other Dams, such as Pak Beng Dam to go ahead. We’ll also expand on the impacts on the Mekong Delta, the Tonle Sap Lake & Wetlands, Aquaculture and more.

https://www.scientists4mekong.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Floating-Village-in-Mekong-River-near-Kampong-Cham-Cambodia.-Photo-by-Shanti-Cantrelle.jpg1961024Editorhttps://www.scientists4mekong.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/scientists4themekong_logo.jpgEditor2017-03-17 21:55:072017-03-23 05:26:32Open Letter to the Mekong River Commission

Publications

It's not just about the Dam #collapse and the devastating #floods that left so many dead and over 16,000 impacted in Laos & Cambodia - at a point in time.

It's the #long_term #consequences of such impacts, which Dam Developers and the Laos & Cambodian governments MUST take into consideration -> BEFORE allowing any more Dam construction in the Mekong Basin!!! And ENSURING people receive the appropriate #compensation to be able to start again!!

Excerpt from article below:

"The Worst of the Flooding"

"The dam collapsed on July 23 and released 5 billion cubic meters of water. The floods washed away hundreds of homes in Attapeu province and killed up to 30 people. Hundreds of people went missing in the floods and more than 6,600 people were displaced.

Overall, it’s estimated that as many as 16,000 people were affected by the floods in the Attapeu province and Cambodia.

Entire villages, roads, bridges, and homes have been destroyed and washed away. Many people have lost all their possessions.

“But the real tragedy in it is… that all of their rice fields and their harvest area has been destroyed,” World Mission’s Greg Kelley says.

“Although they didn’t die and there were no fatalities during the initial flooding, it makes the ongoing ability to survive, it just puts a matter of [people in a] very delicate place. And right now, they need help. They need help because there are thousands of people that are at risk right now.”

Without crops and animals, which have been drowned in the floods, people no longer have a way to support themselves.

20 #Cambodian NGOs will boycott the Mekong River Committee (MRC) forum planned over 2 days at the end of this month aimed at "allowing discussions" on the Development of more #Hydropower Dams in the Mekong River. (As if people's wants and needs would make any difference...)

Remember the very publicized promise by #Laos that it would #delay any Dams until the case of the collapsed Xe Pian Xe Namnoy Dam was properly investigated? I remind the readers we predicted this wouldn't happen for #planned Dams or those in #construction... We were right!

Laos is #outraged about the open forum and any delays to its plan to go ahead with the construction of the #Pak_Lay Dam and another one. The Laos National Mekong Committee explained that "the Pak Lay hydropower dam is not a #new project" 😨😌

Read full article below.

"The floodwaters of the Mekong River have begun to recede across the country, but concerns remain over damage caused in Stung Treng and Kratie provinces.

The Mekong River Committee (MRC) plans to hold an open forum this month on the development of hydropower dams along the river. However, 20 NGOs in the Kingdom have said they will boycott the event.

Waters were particularly catastrophic this year after the collapse of the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy hydropower dam located near the Kingdom’s border with Laos.

The dam, which cost an estimated $1.02 billion, was a project undertaken by a South Korean company.

After the collapse, tens of thousands of hectares of crops and residential land were inundated, displacing 50,000 families.

Morn claimed that 50 per cent of his cashew nut plantation was completely damaged.

“My family and I, along with some villagers, left home for safer ground on the hills because the waters were rising very quickly. We brought only important items and two pigs. We left 20 ducks there. They drowned that night."

“We have really never experienced such a flood before and I do not want to see this terrible event happen again,” Morn said.

Boycott called

He appealed to the authorities not to allow any more dams to be built along the Mekong. He said biodiversity and the livelihoods of those living along the river would be impacted.

Nonetheless, his appeal could fall on deaf ears, as the MRC had recently announced it will lead a discussion in the Lao capital about proposals for two new hydropower dams in the region.

An announcement issued by the committee last month said the forum will take place over two days near the end of this month.

A group of 20 environmental NGOs responded to the announcement by saying they will boycott the forum unless the projects are delayed.

Mok Bunthoeun an official at the NGO Forum, said after the collapse of Xe Pian Xe Namnoy, the Laos government called for further dam projects to be delayed until the collapse is investigated fully.

“The Laos National Mekong Committee explained that the Pak Lay hydropower dam is not a new project, but we think that the regional discussion forum should be delayed."

“The Mekong Committee should reply formally to our request for an explanation over the impact of the previous hydropower dam or else we will not attend the forum,” Bunthoeun said.

Meanwhile, National Committee for Disaster Management spokesman Keo Vy agreed that the forum should be delayed to next month while the collapse of Xe Pian Xe Namnoy is investigated.

“It will not be late even if we delay the regional discussion forum to next month. However, experts of the MRC and relevant parties should make the decision,” he said.

But the committee hasn’t given any indication that the forum will be delayed.

The floodwaters of the Mekong River have begun to recede across the country, but concerns remain over damage caused in Stung Treng and Kratie provinces. The Mekong River Committee (MRC) plans to hold an open forum this month on the development of hydropower dams along the river. However, 20 NGOs in....

The Global Climate Action Summit, taking place from Wednesday, Sept. 12, to Friday, Sept. 14, 2018 in San Francisco, will bring leaders and people together from around the world to “Take Ambition to the Next Level.” Follow us on Twitter: @GCAS2018

According to fishermen & villagers we #interviewed in February 2016, from Laos to Cambodia, dwindling fish stocks were already a frightening reality since the construction of the #Xayabury Dam in Laos. The decrease in fish catches had been felt and compounded by the construction of many Dams in #tributaries in Laos, by the #DonSahong Dam in Laos/border with Cambodia, and by the #LowerSesan2 Dam in a main tributary in NE Cambodia...

Since then, many Hydropower Dams have been built and dozens more are under construction in #Laos, with plans for 170 more dams.

Hence, the Mekong River ecosystem is in extreme peril, as are the Food & Water Security for 60 Million people in the Lower Mekong Basin...

The #collapse of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Dam in July 2018, which left over 6,000 Laotians homeless and affected tens of thousands in Cambodia, hasn't changed any Dam construction plans in either country... 😰

Construction of dams in Laos is threatening the livelihood of fishermen, like these shown in the southern Mekong region of Champasak.

The tiny Southeast Asian nation of Laos champions itself as "the battery of Southeast Asia," exporting hydroelectricity to its neighbors as it seeks to exit the ranks of least developed countries.

But developing hydropower -- Laos' major national industry -- is threatening the numerous fishing villages that line the Mekong River, which are seeing fish stocks dwindle as new dams spring up.

In the village of Nakasang on the southern banks of the river, a forty-seven-year-old Moai Chai Leopas sighed. "Since they began making the dam, the fish have been disappearing," she said, referring to the Don Sahong Dam project. "If things continue like this, we won't have enough money to send our children to school."

Laos has hoped to exploit its mountain ranges to produce and sell hydroelectricity. But as dam projects proceed, the country is being forced to rethink its priorities: #electricity or #fish?

It appears the latter are losing.

Construction of Don Sahong Dam in the Mekong Basin, overseen by Malaysia-based Mega First, is proceeding rapidly. When completed in 2019, the facility is expected to generate 2028 gigawatts of power annually.

Don Sahong Dam. Completion of the dam is scheduled for 2019.
Rumors of dwindling fish stocks began to surface in 2016, soon after construction by China's state-owned Sinohydro kicked off. "It became so hard to make a living that some people went to Thailand to find work," Moai Chai said.

Diminishing stocks have also driven fish prices up. "Before [construction], even an expensive batch of fish was about 40,000 kip per kilogram ($4.72). Now, it's more than twice that," noted a thirty-year-old driver in the village.

The fish shortage is being felt nationwide. Laos is a landlocked country, and its cuisine centers around fish from the Mekong. Champasak Province -- where Dong Sahong is being built -- is famous for its delicately fragranced fish, which eventually find their way from Nakasang to cities and towns throughout the country via the regional capital of Pakse.

"Freshwater fish from the Mekong is a vital ingredient in Laotian cuisine," according to Taku Mori of Japan-Laos Creative Partners.

New dams also threaten the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin. Mekong Watch, a nongovernmental organization, recently warned that Dong Sahong was "having a negative and irreversible effect" on the environment.

Still, hydroelectric plants are multiplying in Laos, driven by foreign investment from electricity-hungry countries like Thailand and China.

By 2024, Laos aims to have weaned itself from the United Nation's least developed country list on the back of industries that earn foreign currency. With no significant sectors other than some mining exports, Laos is depending on selling electricity. The Ministry of Energy and Mines plans to build 159 new hydropower generators by 2030.

The country's ambitions suffered a setback after a huge dam collapse in late July in the southern province of Attapeu. The failure of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Dam destroyed villages and left around 6,000 people homeless in a disaster that forced the government to investigate construction flaws and review safety standards.

But the review is less likely to address the effects of dams on the environment and food culture, and any construction projects underway are unlikely to be halted.

The #Pak_Lay Dam is the 4th Dam planned on the #mainstream of the #Mekong River in #Laos. Fascinating how the Mekong River Commision opened the "Prior Consultation Process" for this new Dam, only ONE DAY AFTER the Laotian government announced a #suspension of all new #hydropower projects -following the collapse of the Xe Pian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower Dam...😱😠

" "Save the Mekong", a coalition of non-governmental organizations, community-based groups and concerned citizens within the Mekong region, issued a #statement on Friday announcing their intention to #boycott the Mekong River Commission’s (MRC’s) Prior Consultation for the proposed Pak Lay dam."

"Prior Consultation is a requirement of the 1995 Mekong Agreement for countries jointly to review any development project proposed for the mainstream Mekong, with an aim to reach an agreement on whether or not it should proceed, and if so, under what conditions."

"The Save the Mekong coalition is boycotting the Pak Lay Prior Consultation because serious and outstanding concerns regarding each of the mainstream dams that have undergone the process to date – the Xayaburi, Don Sahong and Pak Beng dams – remain unresolved."

"Furthermore, the Pak Lay Prior #Consultation began just one day after the Laotian government announced a #suspension of new hydropower projects in the wake of the tragic Xe Pian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower project disaster in Attapeu, southern Laos."

Goes to show the Laos government is going at full throttle with its plans for many Dams (120 Dams in tributaries). This is despite the dire consequences of the Dam collapse recently experienced ...😠💀💀💀

Share on Facebook Follow on Facebook Add to Google+ Connect on Linked in Subscribe by Email Print This Post CHIANG RAI – Save the Mekong, a coalition of non-governmental organizations, community-based groups and concerned citizens within the Mekong region, issued a statement on Friday announcin...

I had missed this very important news.
Formosa Steel, was already #fined millions of dollars for the massive #pollution of its #toxic_waste that lead to a huge #fish_kill and pollution of hundreds of kilometres of coastline and aquaculture farms.

Yet, they go ahead #again and try to #cheat the system by burying 100 tons of #toxic mud... WTH?? It's #irresponsible companies like this that should be #shut_down for the safety of people and environment!!!

"Investigators are looking at how and why 100 tons of waste from Formosa's steel factory found it's way onto a farm in Ha Tinh.
Ha Tinh authorities have found that the Urban Environment Company (UEC) in Ky Anh District was responsible for burying over 100 tons of industrial waste released by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel – the culprit behind Vietnam’s recent mass fish kills.

UEC only specializes in providing conventional waste-treatment services. Ha Tinh's Department of Natural Resources and Environment said the contract between FHS and UEC to treat conventional waste would have been fine, but the deal to treat 100 tons of black mud since the beginning of April was a violation."